Week 6

Memory

• Learning that persists over time.
• Information that has been encoded, stored, retained and subsequently retrieved.
• Can be recalled, recognized, or relearned.

Memory Types

• Sensory, Short-Term/Working, Long-Term.
• Conscious: Declarative/Explicit, Non-Declarative/Implicit.

Information Processing

• People actively participate in memory making.
• Information is processed through a series of hypothetical stages or stores.

Attention

• Capacity or energy necessary to support information processing.
• Alertness, ignoring distractions, attending to relevant information.
• Includes Automatic and Effortful Processing.

Speed and Resources

• Speed of Processing: How quickly and efficiently the early steps in information processing are completed.
• Processing Resources: The amount of attention one has to apply to a particular situation.

Selective Attention

• Ability to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information.
• Older adults are more affected by the number of distractors, especially if they are random and chaotic.
• Older adults are better at selectivity.

Divided Attention Deficits

• Problems that occur when distributing attention across multiple sources of information.
• Older adults have more problems on complex divided tasks.

Working Memory

• Active processes and structures involved in holding information in mind.
• Used to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new information.
• Rehearsal: The process by which information is held in working memory.

Working Memory Decline

• Older adults' working memory declines, but it varies by the type of information or task.
• Decline in Spatial Working Memory > Verbal Working Memory.
• Factors contributing to decline: Levels of alertness, task order, task interference.
• Greater prior knowledge helps.

Long-Term Memory

• Ability to remember extensive amounts of information from a few seconds to decades.
• Implicit (automatic memory): Retrieval of information without conscious or intentional recollection. Examples include procedural memory and priming.
• Explicit (declarative): Intentional and conscious remembering of information. Examples include episodic and semantic memory.

Implicit Memory

• Decline varies by task.
• Decline for learning sequences of information.
• No decline for learning spatial contexts.
• Priming: Age-related declines in some priming tasks, but these declines are smaller than explicit memory age-related declines.
• Procedural Memory: Motor performance for procedural tasks declines with age, but the rate of motor learning and motor memory does not.

Explicit Memory

• Episodic Memory: Conscious recollection of information from a specific event or point in time. Includes recall (remembering without hints) and recognition (choosing from items).
• Semantic Memory: Learning and remembering the meaning of words and concepts that are not tied to specific occurrences of events in time.

Episodic Memory Decline

• Generally stable until around 55-60 years of age, then a steep decline from age 65.
• The magnitude of the decline depends on the nature of the task and the method of testing (recall vs recognition).
• Binding Deficit: A deficit in the integration of the multiple elements in complex events into a unified memory/representation.

Moderating Factors for Episodic Memory

• Changing environmental conditions (processing time, reduce distractors).
• Practice similar tasks prior to learning.
• Encourage use of specific strategies for learning (including encoding and retrieval).
• Include familiar information and external cues.
• Organize information into clear and coherent categories.
• Action associations can increase recall.

Semantic Memory

• Remains relatively stable throughout aging.
• Vocabulary expands until age 65, then remains stable or decreases slightly.
• Speed of access (a more sensitive measure) does decline.

Autobiographical Memories

• Recall of episodes from one's own past.
• Functions: Directive, self, and social.
• Few age-related losses.
• Older adults remember less negative content.

Dive into the intriguing world of memory in this quiz covering various types and stages of information processing. Understand the distinction between sensory, short-term, and long-term memory, as well as the impact of attention on memory retention. Test your knowledge on how we encode, store, and retrieve information.